The invention relates to a closing device for a folding top for a convertible and a locking device for the roof of a convertible car.
The invention is concerned with the problem of creating a closing device for the folding top of a convertible of the type mechanisms are controlled by a small number of individual components and which can be shifted when not in use into a position in which the danger of damage and injury to the user is less and the operating comfort is improved.
In a locking device for a folding top of a convertible car in accordance with the invention, a torsion bar is provided for transferring the operating motion of a swiveling handle and has a profiled bend in the longitudinal direction so that the swiveling handle, interacting with two supporting/swiveling connections to a roof peak part provided at the ends of the torsion bar, and towards the respective locking mechanisms, forms a kinematic chain. This enables a movement, independent of the user, in the form of a forced control. After the device is actuated by means of the manually operated swiveling handle, the handle and the locking mechanisms of the closing device are shifted automatically, without additional hand movements, into a storage position. After that, components which can be moved out of the roof plane are secured in a position largely inaccessible to the user. In this manner, while the operating comfort is improved, injuries due to inadvertent contact with protruding components of the closing device are avoided.
The components of this forced control for the closing device are integrated with little technical effort in the roof peak part of the folding top so that, with few individual parts to be installed, a functionally reliable opening and closing kinematic is achieved. In view of the unimpeded accessibility of the simply constructed components, a rapid, low-cost, partial installation is possible during installation or repair work in the region of the closing device and, in the case of different tolerance dimensions, for example, in the region between the locking components and the abutment at the windshield frame, expensive adaptations are unnecessary because the parts can be adjusted easily.